Learn about Dr. Ira Byock’s strategic vision for approaching the major issues facing hospice and palliative care.

My guest Dr. Ira Byock is a leading palliative care physician, author, and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. He is the author of the books Dying Well, The Four Things that Matter Most, and The Best Care Possible. He discusses his recent white paper “A Strategic Path Forward for Hospice and Palliative Care” and his 4-point approach for dealing with the current issues facing end-of-life care in the U.S. Learn more at his website and read the paper below:

irabyock.org

Listen here:

This episode includes:

• Why it’s important for insiders in the field of end-of-life care to honestly face the current crisis and the Grief we are experiencing
• Fraud and abuse is a significant problem in hospice care today
• There is a high variability in quality of care in hospice
• Palliative care services are inconsistent across the country
• Leaders in the field are not addressing the problems in the field
• 70% of hospices are for-profit; profit needs to be tied to quality of care
• There must be zero tolerance of fraud and abuse in end-of-life care
• 4 elements of Dr. Byock’s strategic plan

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Download a Discussion Guide for the white paper
• Check out my Substack: Soulcode – where I share essays on AI, grief, shadow work, and spiritual reflection 
• View my new Patreon tier for Soul Supporters and receive extra reflections as a special bonus
• NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving
• Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death
• Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
• Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
• Leave me a message by email: [email protected], Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
• Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Souloin the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, monthly What to Watch recommendations, Behind the Scenes Bonus content, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
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If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Frank Voelker and Katie Daco who made donations on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

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Karen Wyatt Karen Wyatt MD

Dr. Karen Wyatt is the bestselling author of the book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying, which contains stories of patients she cared for as a hospice doctor and the spiritual lessons she learned from them at the end of their lives. Her other books include The Journey from Ego to Soul, Stories from the Dark Night, and The Tao of Death. Dr. Wyatt also hosts End-of-Life University Podcast, which features conversations with experts who work in all aspects of end-of-life care. She is widely regarded as a thought-leader in the effort to transform the way we care for our dying in the U.S. In addition, she is valued for her application of spiritual principles to illness and healthcare and teaches that in order to live life fully we must each overcome our fear of death and embrace the difficulties that life brings us.